


Always With the Dramatic Entrance—The Day After Nate Left Job

by crayonbreakygal



Series: The After Nate Left Jobs [2]
Category: Leverage
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-02
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-30 20:21:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6438835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crayonbreakygal/pseuds/crayonbreakygal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eliot and Sophie talk the day after Nate has given himself up to Sterling.  A continuation of She Wasn’t Going to Cry—The Night After Nate Left Job.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Always With the Dramatic Entrance—The Day After Nate Left Job

Takes place right after The Maltese Falcon Job, season two

Always With the Dramatic Entrance—The Day After Nate Left Job

Sophie awoke the next morning, muscles kinked, head pounding, tongue feeling like sandpaper. She was rested, yes, but her mind turned on the moment her eyes popped open. Willing away what had happened the day before, she stretched her arms above her head, hoping to work the kinks out.

Beside her, the bed was empty. Parker must have woken up before her, taking her leave quickly and quietly. Just like the girl, Sophie thought. Turning, she saw that the clock said 11am. Six good hours of uninterrupted sleep after tossing and turning with bad dreams of Nate dying, time after time.

Slowly working her way to the bathroom, the fright that she saw in the mirror didn’t surprise her. Crying her eyes out, exhaustion, and then the fact that her brain would not shut off had made her look years older. Dammit, Nate. She wasn’t supposed to look like someone had dragged her through the mud for the last thirty six hours.

A shower would make her feel more human, so she set about that, realizing that if she did, she’d smell like him. Parker had told her the night before that Sophie smelled like him by sleeping in his bed. Well, now she definitely would. Not that she minded, but right then her attitude toward the bastard wasn’t favorable.

The hot water helped work out some of the kinks that had formed in her neck. After having traveled half way around the world, the helicopter ride, the need to save Nate from Kadjic and her having to let him go to jail had taken a toll on her body. She hadn’t realized how much until the hot water stung. After standing under the stream for what seemed like forever, she quickly washed with his shampoo and soap.

Wrapping a towel around her body, she hoped that she had enough clothes around his apartment to dress. She’d often change into one of her personas while here, so she was certain she’d find something. She gravitated though to his closet. As she opened it up, what she noticed were the suits. He still owned several, although he didn’t wear them as much now, unless they were doing a con that necessitated him looking professional. She’d often have to fix his tie, pushing it up to finish off the look. So many times while he was chasing her in Europe she’d have to fix his tie. Why did he wear them if they strangled him so?

Picking out a blue button up shirt (he looked best in blue), she shrugged the towel off, pulling it to her body, wrapping it around like it was a cloak. Even though it was clean, it still smelled like him. She’d only unbuttoned his shirt one time, the time when she accidentally shot him while stealing a painting. The feel of his skin underneath her fingers was intoxicating even though he was panting in pain. He’d already helped her out from the hole he had put in her (not that she didn’t find a doctor later to fix what he had clumsily did).

Going into the spare bedroom, she found her stash of extra clothes and pulled on the appropriate apparel minus the bra because being confined right then would drive her crazy. It was buttoned up enough, she thought. She wondered what he would think about her wearing his clothes. She’d tease him, he’d banter back, both frustrated at the lack of action on both their parts. Only that kiss they shared had offered something else, something that she had wished for a decade to happen.

Taking the steep steps carefully, the smells that hit her nose made her smile. Eliot must have decided that he’d cook to take out his frustration. She liked that he did this. Who knew that the man with the lethal hands could make something so delicious?

“Soph.”

“Eliot.”

With just a look, she could read Eliot like a book. He was slinging around hash browns, scrambling eggs, frying bacon all the while looking at her with that intense stare he had going for him.

“Food?”

“Gotta eat.”

“I missed this. Eating thing.”

“Yeah, you missed quite a bit of the eating thing.”

There was the zing she was expecting from him. His calls when she was gone were sad and pointed to say the least. It was he who kept the rest of them out of danger, but he couldn’t keep Nate from planning what had happened. Eliot was reactive, not proactive. And Sophie had not been there to make sure Nate didn’t jump off the edge. There was only so much the hitter could do once Nate had taken that plunge.

“I know. I realize, I just…”

She couldn’t form a coherent thought. Why should she apologize for not being there? She could only do so much, he could only do so much.

“No, darlin’. You don’t realize. I’m not here to bust your chops. Just realize that without you here, our safety net had holes the size of New Jersey. It was all I could do to hold the damn thing up enough so the rest of them didn’t fall through.”

The hurt in his eyes was unmistakable. He felt guilty, guilty for not having saved Nate from himself, guilty for letting Nate take that shot, guilty for letting Nate take the fall for all of them. What he didn’t understand though was these were her burdens to bear this time.

Sitting down at the counter, Sophie’s hands started to shake. She was aware that she had not eaten in quite some time, with only the tea the night before. A plate appeared directly under her nose, making her mouth water. Was that the reason why she couldn’t think straight?

After wolfing down what Eliot had served her, she felt a bit steadier. He’d done the same thing, cleaning his plate in record time. Once done, she looked up at him, knowing she’d have to have a deeper conversation with the man. Only he knew a little what Nate was thinking. Sure, Hardison and Parker were with Nate constantly now, but Eliot seemed to have a better understanding of what made Nate tick. Not that he liked it, she surmised.

“I don’t know where to start,” she finally said, watching what his reaction would be.

“Why’d you come back, right then, right there? Always with the dramatic entrance. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. He really did misjudge this time.”

“Tara told me.”

“And the fun just keeps coming. What did she tell you?”

Eliot obviously didn’t like being spied upon and didn’t like the fact that Sophie used Tara as a mole on the team. She’d have to make sure that Tara knew of Eliot’s displeasure just so that the next time they met, Eliot wouldn’t go off on her. This was Sophie’s fault, entirely.

“From her objective point of view, that he was going off the deep end.”

“I was handling it, right up until the very end.”

Eliot shrugged. She wanted to call bullshit on this because he wasn’t handling it. He was just covering it up, for himself and the others.

“Handling it so well, Nate almost took a bullet to the back of the head, dumped at sea.”

Eliot’s face turned a bit red after that admission. Since he was not in the same room at the time, he didn’t know what she did. He wasn’t there to protect the mastermind from Kadjic. She was. At least for that moment in time.

“Were the two of you making this up as you went along or was this thought out? Because from where I was standing, it looked as if neither one of you had a chance in hell of succeeding.”

“Yeah, probably. When Nate said not to worry about Sterling, I kinda knew we were in trouble.”

“Not worry about Sterling? What in bloody hell was he thinking?”

Eliot got up to pace the kitchen, crossing his arms over his body. Sophie could see some of the bruises on his arms, one on his jaw. His body had taken a beating on this one, in more ways than one.

“Kadjic took out Bonnano, so Nate probably was thinking too much with his heart, not his brain. You know how he gets.”

Yes, she knew exactly how he got. Put something sympathetic in front of him and his brain would be on overdrive to take down the mark, his safety be damned.

“Start from the beginning. Dealing with Kadjic should have taken a lot of finesse. That so obviously went out the window.”

“Nate found out that Bonnano had been shot. He’s going to be OK, but he was not on duty at the time. He was taken out by professionals. Nate couldn’t let that go and I probably wouldn’t have let him either. Nate wanted to settle the score.”

“And that was his first mistake,” Sophie said as her hands clenched into fists. “Not that we couldn’t go after the cause, but you can’t just go out there all half-cocked and fix this.”

“He jinxed it by saying how bad could this be? Corruption? City officials? He thought it’d be a cake walk. Little did we know.”

“Little did you know about Interpol and a gun runner.”

“We obviously did not have enough information.”

“Didn’t it occur to you that no matter what, the weapons that were used to hurt Bonnano could not have been used by any of these so-called public officials?”

“That was in the back of my mind, yes.”

“Too many players, too many unknowns. The plan did not work.”

“And what would you have done better, Sophie? The way the two of you were dealing, or not dealing with each other before you left, you think you could have pulled him back, made him wait for more info?”

“I don’t know. You all scared me. I almost lost you all.”

Hiding her face behind her hands, she willed the tears to not start again. Her face was already swollen from the night before. Pulling her into an embrace, she grabbed on to Eliot tight, burying her head into his chest. He smelled of bacon, and aftershave and Eliot. She didn’t know how she knew. So different from Nate or any of the others. The strength in his arms, the hardness of his chest, the way he held himself, the confidence he had made her feel safe. Nate always made her feel dangerous, reckless, out of control. The two of them were the polar opposites of each other. She didn’t need out of control at the moment. She needed safety and reassurance.

“You didn’t. I never would have allowed that to happen.”

His hand came up to rub against her back, making her feel welcome that she came back in the first place. She wondered if they would accept her back into the group. He obviously did.

Pulling back, she rubbed her hands over her face to rid herself of the tears.

“Ok, Ok, I’m Ok,” she managed to get out.

“But you’re not. Not by a long shot. Whatever this crap is between you and Nate, you have to fix it. It’s eating you up inside. Not a pretty sight.”

“It doesn’t feel all that wonderful.”

“God, Sophie. Just tell him. Tell him that you love him and put him out of his misery. He’s not good with the words. It’s never been his strong suit.”

Sophie gasped a little bit when Eliot told her that she loved Nate. Where on earth had he gotten that from? What did he know?

“Yes, this is from the relationship expert?”

“Funny. Very funny.”

“Wait, how do you? What makes you think? Dammit, Nate.”

“See? Gets you every time. He is one of the most frustrating men I have ever met, Sophie. Not sure how you survive it.”

“I’ve known him much longer than you have. He grows on you.”

“Well, he’s met his match, that’s for sure.”

Sophie’s eyes lit up in challenge. Was she well matched with the asshole that treated her like crap? Well, mostly treated her like crap. Well, only sometimes. Sometimes that light in his eyes, the way he looked at her like she completed him, that just made her melt.

“Match? Who’s talking about match, the bastard.”

Eliot laughed. “You can fight with him after we get him out.”

“Can we get him out?”

“It’s gonna take some time.”

Sophie knew they had all the time in the world now, Sterling be damned.

“You know he’ll say no.”

“Yeah. That’s why we’ll send you in to convince him.”

Just what she needed. Convince Nate that the four of them wanted to break him out of prison, for his own good.

“When it’s you, Sophie, you don’t have to con him. Just give him that look, show him some leg and you’re good to go.”

Sophie slapped him on the arm, somewhat offended that Eliot thought she had that kind of sway with Nate.

“Food,” came a yell from the front door.

The spell was broken between the two. Eliot saw right through her and Nate for that matter. She needed the pep talk from Eliot and the talking to from Eliot. All her skills and planning would need to be in play if they were going to break him out.

“Hey, y’all ate everything. What’s up?”

“There’s more to be made,” Eliot growled back. “I’m not your servant.”

Parker made her way into the kitchen, opened the cupboard, and pulled out cereal.

“You’re going to ruin your appetite, Parker. Put the cereal back.”

“But I’m hungry, right now.”

The three bickered back and forth, making her feel right at home. This is why she came back: to see Nate and slap him for his antics; to see her team because she missed them fiercely; to finally find herself, because she was already waiting here, not in Europe.

Sophie Devereaux had a job to do.

 


End file.
